Creating Demand for Corn through New Uses

May 20, 2020

Creating Demand for Corn through New Uses

The confluence of available corn-based feedstocks and consumer demand represents an opportunity for stakeholders in the sustainable biomaterials industry and will help drive demand for corn. The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is working to establish new uses of corn and demonstrating corn as the clear feedstock of choice.

“The seeds have to be planted along the way to find the next big new uses of corn,” said NCGA Director of Market Development Sarah McKay. “This doesn’t just happen overnight. That’s why we’ve been working with university researchers, government entities, and untraditional partners to prime the pump for innovation and viable uses of corn. We also work with individual companies, innovators and research groups to engage in conversations and projects together to facilitate these technologies to commercialization while making sure their customers understand the value of corn as an industrial feedstock.”

NCGA has held two Consider Corn Challenge contests. Many of the winners have gone on to secure additional funding to help get their products to the market. The winners have developed biosourced materials from corn that are starting materials for various biobased plastics, nylons, polyester resins and more.

There are many reasons why corn makes the perfect industrial feedstock, and you can view them here, in our updated Corn as an Industrial Feedstock booklet.

This week, NCGA will be releasing our latest episode of our podcast, Wherever Jon May Roam, talking about new uses and why corn is the right fit to be used in biobased products. You can listen to the episode at ncga.com/podcast.

NCGA is taking a series of actions to do our part to help contain the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and the economic fallout it is creating for corn farmers and our customers. Short term, this means instituting policies to protect the health and safety of our stakeholders and the broader communities we serve. Long term, we’re focused on creating solutions to help corn farmers and our customers recover from the financial impacts of this crisis.

CommonGround is a group of farmers connecting with consumers through conversations about science and research and personal stories about food and misinformation surrounding farming. Supported by the NCGA and state corn organizations.

The Soil Health Partnership (SHP) is a farmer-led initiative that fosters transformation in agriculture through improved soil health. Administered by NCGA the partnership has more than 220 working farms enrolled in 16 states. SHP’s mission is to utilize science and data to partner with farmers who are adopting conservation agricultural practices that improve the economic and environmental sustainability of the farm.